The Last Battle
by Xim the Despot
Summary: With the Battle of Coruscant over and the CIS on the run, the Clone War seems almost over. However, dark forces are at play and watch as a Jedi knight and his Padawan, along with his former master, a Mandalorian training sergeant, and a squad of clone commandos deal with the fallout.
1. Chapter 1

** A/N & Edit: I realized that I forgot to put an authors note in this and haven't had time to put one in untill now. Usual disclaimer, I don't own Star Wars. If i was, Darth Bitchface, (I mean Kathleen Kennedy), wouldn't be in charge. Without further adu, here is the story.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Mission Briefing

…

Coruscant

It had been two months since the CIS attack on the Republic's capital world. Strategically, it was a failure for them that ended with Count Dooku's death and the destruction of the majority of the attacking fleet destroyed.

As for the Republic civilian's, it installed a scene of fear into their minds as well as a desire to end the war.

That's what Jedi Knight Rigot Vonto thought as he and his Padawan, Baric Qel-Droma, walked to a meeting in the Jedi Temple.

"What do you think we'll plan for, master?" Baric asked as they walked towards the meeting room.

"Probably the continuation of the Siege, and what to do about it," Rigot replied. The Outer Rim Siege as the public had dubbed it. The CIS were confined there after giving up their gains from last year's Operation Durge's Lance. Now without a head of state or most of its navy, the Separatists were on the backfoot now more than ever.

"Hopefully it's more exciting than another counter-terrorist investigation," Baric grumbled. Lately terrorist cells, CIS-backed and otherwise, had been cropping up on Coruscant and Republic Special Forces, Rigot's branch of the Grand Army of the Republic, were the ones usually tasked with stopping them.

"Patients Baric," the older Jedi said in a somewhat chiding manner. "We go where we're assigned. You should know that by now."

"I know master," the teen responded. "I just want to do more to help end the war. I hope to be able to do that from the battlefield, not just the command room."

Rigot thought of his Padawan's words. Like many seventeen-year-olds, Jedi or otherwise, Baric had an urge to prove himself. It was part of the process of growing and something his own master had chipped his own two creds in on.

Those thoughts were interrupted when the duo had reached the strategic planning room of the Jedi Temple. Entering the room, Rigot and Baric took account of the people present.

At the holo table, holograms of Masters Ki-Adi-Mundi, Aayla Secura, Quinlan Vos, and K'Kruhk were visiting with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Another group of five Jedi talking by the far end of the room, (the only Jedi from this group that Rigot recognized here was Rohm Kota).

Another group five Jedi stood not far from the last group that included Master Luminara Unduli.

To the right at the bottom of the stairs, however, had interesting scene.

A group of five people were gathered there and discussing something.

Two people in this group had their backs turned to the door. It wasn't however, hard to guess that they were Jedi Council members Mace Windu and Shaak Ti. The other three members struck him as an odd sight in the Temple.

The one on the left was a large bearded and muscular Jedi with graying hair tied back in a ponytail. The on in the middle was a female humanoid dressed in green Mandalorian armor that had blue stripes on it. The last figure was a middle-aged human male with short blonde hair and sideburns that went to his chin who wore a Republic Intelligence uniform.

The greying Jedi noticed Rigot as he and Baric got halfway down the stairs.

"Hey there Rigot" he said.

"I'm surprised Arligan, you usually don't leave SpecOp headquarters," was Rigot's reply before turning to the Mandalorian clad woman stretching out his hand, "Hello Akkata, it's nice to see you again."

"You too, Master Vonto," Akkata replied as she shook his hand. As this happened, Rigot felt an object pass into his hands from Alana. After Rigot slipped this into his robe sleeve, Arligan Zey answered his question.

"Normally I would but I needed to come to temple for a few things."

"Oh," Rigot said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm in the middle of a few investigations and Masters Windu and Ti are helping with one of them."

"And what sort of investigation would that be?" Rigot asked.

"We are looking for a couple of missing teams of clone troopers and agents from Republic Intelligence. Agent Alexsandr Kallus here is the liaison for R.I. to help Alana with this."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Agent Kallus said as he out stretched his hand.

"Like wise," Rigot replied as he shook his hand. "Who was on these team anyway?"

"A mix of clone troopers and Republic Intelligence agents," Akkata answered, "Most notable was ARC Commander Valiant and Captain Dyne of R.I."

"While this is an interesting exchange of intelligence," Mace Windu interjected, "we do have a strategic meeting to get to."

While the group was talking, more Jedi had entered the room or called in via hologram. On that note, Akkata Spar and Alexsandr Kallus left to begin their investigation. Rigot, Baric and Arligan sat down and got ready to continue the Outer Rim Sieges.

…

Most of the meeting didn't interest Rigot. Most of it was various divisions, armies and star corps being reassigned to different planets or being ordered to link up with different armies of various other Jedi. On good piece of news was the fall of Saleucami after six months, (the casualties were high as many clones perished along with Jedi Council member Oppo Rancisis and a few other Jedi).

The one part that really pertained to Rigot was somewhere in the middle of meeting.

"Hypori is one of the last major factory worlds the CIS has left," Master Windu explained. "We also have received reports of a new droid type being developed there that, according to our intelligence, will have Jedi hunting and killing capabilities."

A murmur went through the crowd of Jedi as they digested this information.

"I am assigning the 222nd Star Corp to take this Hypori and knock out these factories."

Rigot perked up at this. This particular star corp's commander was Dakku Voltar, the Jedi that trained him as a padawan. He hadn't seen Master Voltar for about a year as he was tasked with stopping CIS advances through the Ison Trade Corridor.

Rigot was brought out of his musing by Master Windu continuing his briefing.

"On top of this invasion, a contingency of Special Forces will be working retrieve the schematics of this droid. We hope to keep the schematics out of Separatists hand and possibly figure out where they got them from. Master Vonto, I believe you are up to the task?"

After getting an affirmative nod from Arligan, Rigot stood and answered.

"I am Master Windu, and I know the perfect squad to perform this task."

…

Hours later, Baric, Rigot and Arligan walked out of the meeting, (save for a quick hello to Anakin Skywalker), discussing the upcoming battle.

"What's Echo Squad's status?" Rigot asked the head of SpecOps.

"They're not any missions right now so they should be free for this op."

"Excellent. Just need to take care of a few things then I'll meet with them."

Baric listened to their plans for this and pondered what his role in it was. He hoped he could have his boots on the ground before the war's end.

His thought process was interrupted by a jolt from someone nearby in the temple. He looked at his fellow Jedi to see if they felt to. They did and the looks of disconcert somewhat started him. The three walked to the source of the commotion.

What they found was a bit surprising when they found a crying youngling behind a pillar about twelve meters from the meeting room.

The youngling himself looked no older than six or seven. His height and build were average for many of his age. His skin was that of a lighter human complection that had spent some time in the sun, had short black hair and wore standard youngling robes.

"Are you okay young one?" Arligan asked, causing the boy to look up.

The most distinguishing feature about this child was his facial tattoo. A vertical red line running over his right eye and down to the corner of his mouth and another red line running from one cheekbone to other while crossing the bridge of his nose.

"I'm lost," he answered miserably, "I got separated from my clan."

"Oh no," Rigot answered, "that's not good."

"Perhaps we can help you find them," Arligan said in a reassuring tone, "Which clan do you belong to?"

"W-wolf Clan." The boy answered.

"Alright then," the older Jedi said before turning to Baric, "Think you can handle this?"

Baric raised an eyebrow at this.

"Me?" He asked perplexed.

"Master Zey and I have a few meetings to go to for planning the Hypori campaign," His master replied. "I would help the kid if I had the time. Think of this as a test. If you do well, I might let you do field work."

Baric thought about this for a moment. He hated mundane work and tasks but he saw the wisdom of this. If he handled little tasks in an efficient manner, he could probably handle more important tasks in the same manner.

"I can take care of it Master," he replied as he motioned the youngling to follow.

And thus, the two set off to find the missing clan.

…

After five minutes of silently walking Baric decided to break the silence. The youngling had stopped crying and now Baric didn't know what to do. He wasn't very used to dealing with kids and felt out of place. He decided to break the silence.

"I don't think I got your name, did I."

"Huh?"

"Your name," Baric answered, "I'd get a bit tired of calling you 'kid' or 'youngling'. So, what is your name?"

"Caleb," the boy answered shyly.

"And my name is Baric," the older teen answered as he stretched out his hand. "pleased to meet you,"

The boy shakes the outstretched hand and Baric got better look at the boy and made somewhat of a realization about him.

"You're a Kiffar, aren't you?" he asked.

The look on the boy's face was of surprise at that statement.

"How did you know?"

"The tattoo on your face," Baric replied, "Your qukuuf, I believe they're called?"

"They are," the boy said proudly, "they are to mark the clans we are a part of."

"Which clan where you born to?" the teen asked.

"Clan Dume," the boy said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"So, your full name Caleb Dume?"

"Yep," the boy replied, "What's your full name?"

"Baric Qel-Droma."

The two spent the rest of the time talking about what they knew about their respective families. Baric found out the boy was quite the chatterbox. He went on about the kid's clan, what they went over in classes and what they had learned. As Caleb talked more and more, Baric saw the worried and some what shy kid was in his element.

Eventually, the two found the youngling's clan and parted ways. Baric then made his way to the hanger bay to be picked up by his master and plan the next battle.

* * *

**A/N & Edit: How many Expanded Universe references can you spot? For all wondering which continuity this falls under, I have an answer. This falls under the Expanded Universe (or Legends) continuity before the release of Dave Filoni's Clone Wars series. This is done mainly from a lore standpoint as Filoni's Clone Wars contradicts many established lore from the EU, like General Grievous being nerfed or Anakin Skywalker being knighted not long after Attack of the Clones. Instead, this will be more akin to the Clone Wars as depicted in the Star Wars Republic comics by Dark Horse Comics and other related media. I don't hate Filoni's Clone Wars, I just think stuff like the Republic Comics and Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars are cooler. You can voice your disagreements but no harrasement please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N & Edit: I don't own Star Wars. Enjoy the show.**

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Chapter 2: Intel Gathering

…

"_Meet me at Monument Plaza at 23:45 tonight."_

That was what Akkata's note said in Mando'a.

Rigot pondered what this could be about. The Jedi and Mandalorian warrior had been close since they were teens. Rigot, along with his master, Dakku had helped a much younger Akkata out of a tight spot with some Weequay pirates about five years before the Naboo Crisis. It was from that point they became close friends.

After the Naboo Crisis, the Mandalorian women disappeared without a trace. Rigot spent the first two years searching until Master Voltar knocked some sense into him, quite literally. After that, Rigot decided to double down on his Jedi training and obtain Knighthood, which he did.

Then the War began. Rigot was surprised when he found Akkata again, as she was one of the training sergeants for the Clone Army.

Rigot shook these thoughts from his head as he and Arligan landed at SecOps headquarters. He couldn't think about that now. He checked his chronometer and saw that it read 13:20.

'Time to get to work,' He thought to himself.

…

_13:30_

Rigot walked into Arca Company Barracks to meet the clones he hoped to strategize with. Immediately, he was meet with an air of tension, even without the Force.

In the center of the room stood two groups of helmetless clones, one group on each side of a holo-table.

To the left stood three ARC troopers. The one in the middle had the red markings and pauldron of a captain and goatee on his face. The two troopers flanking him were similar dressed but with blue markings and pauldrons instead, making them lieutenants. All three of them had the standard haircut of the GAR

To the right stood four Clone Commandos, all wearing Katarn-class armor. Three of them had dark green armor with black vertical stripes on the on the armor's torso. The clone in the front had a thin, wispy goatee-mustache combo with the standard hair and had lieutenant markings on his left breast.

The commando flanking his left side had sergeant markings on his left breast. Rigot couldn't see the ranks of the other two commandos but he could tell what their faces looked like. The one on the captain's right had the regulation hair style of the rank and file clones but had cybernetic left eye surrounded by a mess of scar tissue. The last one had the regulation hairdo but had let his sideburns grow out a little. Unlike the rest of the squad, this last clone had orange armor with a single white stripe running down the center of the torso.

Both groups had a look of dislike and a desire to knock each other's teeth out.

"Ahem."

Rigot clearing his caused them to drop their standoff and stand at attention.

"At ease, gentlemen," he continued, "Captain Fordo, I'm glad you could make it." Rigot said as he shook hands with the ARC trooper.

"Good to be over with the raid sir," He replied, "I got your holo-call. Something about Hypori?"

"Yes. The Jedi Council has tasked the 222nd Star Corp and to finally take that planet. Echo Squad and I have been tasked with helping them as well as obtaining data on a new type of droid. One with Jedi killing capabilities." Pausing he took a breath. "I spoke with Masters Mundi, Ti, K'Kruhk and Secura concerning the planet. They said that orbiting space mines hit them after exiting hyperspace. I'd like to know how you managed get to the planet without hitting them?"

Fordo strode over to the holo-table and hooked a data pad from he had been carrying. A planet appeared on the table as well as two areas that were highlighted in red.

"The attempted attack blew a hole in the minefield right here," Fordo said as he pointed at the center of the area and the area between the minefields. "We were able to fly a gunship through and pick them up."

"No doubt they refilled the gap in the death field," the commando lieutenant, Gregor, added, "Possible added a layer of cruisers and fighters behind it."

"We should probably obtain making a battle plan," Rigot noted while stroking his chin. "Captain, is it alright if I take this? General Voltar would probably want to see this."

"By all means," the ARC trooper replied as he unplugged the data pad.

"Permission to speak, General?" asked one of the commandos.

"Permission granted Sergeant Rex, go ahead,"

"I don't think this data would be the best to go on,"

Fordo and the Lieutenants gave Rex and the other commandos a scowl.

"All I'm saying," Rex saying, holding his hands up defensively, "we might want to gather more intel before acting on it."

"Agreed," the Jedi said before turning back to the ACR troops, "thank you the data Captain, you are dismissed."

The three ARC troopers grabbed their helmets and walked out of the barracks. Rigot turned back to Echo Squad.

"I want the four of you to acquire some for probe droids to perform reconnaissance of Hypori. I will contact and forward this data to Master Voltar. And pick Baric up from the temple."

"Where are we going to get probe droids?"

"How do you think, Cut?" Rigot asked with an eyebrow raised and a smirk.

The started to chuckle at that statement, knowing exactly what they needed to do.

With that, Echo Squad was dismissed and went to perform their mission. Rigot checked his chronometer after they left.

"14:15," he said as he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned, "It's going to be a long afternoon."

…

_23:40_

Rigot stood in Monument Plaza, waiting for Akkata to show up. While he waited, he stared off to the distance at the large rock at the center of the plaza. There was a semi-large crowd of sentient beings going up to the rock, Umate, and try and touch on of the last pieces of natural ground on a planet dominated by metal and skyscrapers.

Rigot wondered about thing about this planet he had called home for most of his life on. Things like how something like a hawkbat had managed to make a living on a planet this, much less a sentient life. Perhaps a question for philosophers.

"_Whenever we meet here, you always stare at that dumb rock," _a voice spoke in Mando'a, _"It's honestly weird."_

"_Can you blame me?" _Rigot replied in Mando'a as he turned toward the speaker, _"It's the only place on Coruscant that's natural ground. Plus," _he added with a smirk,_ "it was your idea to meet here."_

The speaker pouted initially in an annoyed manner before turning it into a playful smirk. Like Rigot, Akkata was dressed in civilian clothing rather than her Mandalorian armor. While Rigot had a light tan tunic and pants with a pair of brown boots, Akkata had a dark grey tunic and pants with black boots. She hadn't done anything for her face as it looked like it's normal pale gray pigment but her medium-long, pale white hair was done into a bun in the back.

"Fair enough I guess," she replied, "Care to take a walk? I'd like to touch base."

…

The two spent the next hour or so at relative ease. The two chatted about this that and the other thing. It was nice to spend Akkata after not seeing her for almost two months and Rigot intended to make the most of it. But he could tell something was bothering her though the force and he wondered if he should ask her what is was.

Eventually, Rigot swallowed his nerve and asked after she finished talking about her investigation.

"Akkata," he asked, "is something bothering you?"

Akkata raised an eyebrow at that question.

"Why do you ask?"

"I've sensed somethings been bothering you all even," he said as they walked by a bench, "How about we sit and talk about it?"

Akkata sighed and agreed. Once the two had sat down on the bench and she paused and looked uneasy. It was a look that Rigot rarely saw on Akkata Spaar. This must be a serious matter.

"How do I put this," she started to say, but she started to fidget just a little and gasp like a fish out of water.

'Whatever this is,' Rigot thought, 'it must be major news.'

"I'm pregnant, Rigot."

Rigot sat there for a moment, dumbfounded at what he heard. Several emotions went through him simultaneously. Fear, joy and shock being chief among them.

For a good few minutes he didn't say or hear anything. He almost didn't register the fact that Akkata was saying something.

"Hm, did you say something?" Rigot asked sheepishly.

"I said I haven't been with anyone else but you so I know whose it is. My question is what are we going to do?"

"How long have you known?" he asked.

"Two months," she replied, "The last time we say each other like this."

"You know how the Jedi would view this, right?"

"That's why I'm asking," Akkata replied, "Do you not want to have a kid?"

Rigot scratched his chin thoughtfully before answering.

"I wouldn't be opposed to having a kid," he answered, "It's just this how I imagined how it would happen. Plus, the War doesn't help."

"Agreed."

"So, what's the plan?"

"Luckily, I've been avoiding frontline duty for this specific reason," the Mandalorian added, "After I'm done with this investigation, I'm going to take a leave of absence and get ready for when the baby is born. What about you?"

"I'm probably going to keep up as a Jedi and a General until the war ends or until I finish training Baric," Rigot said, "If that happens, I will leave the Jedi Order and join you on Mandalore."

Akkata raised an eye brow at this.

"You know the Mando's attitude toward Jedi, right?"

"I do," he replied, "But, the baby might be Force Sensitive."

"And if it is?" Akkata asked with a scowl.

"Then, I'll train them how properly control that power," Rigot stated, "I won't give them to the Order, don't worry. However, being untrained in the Force is a dangerous idea."

"It's a little reassuring," Akkata said before glancing at her chronometer, "It's getting late. We better get some sleep."

"Right."

The two got up from the bench and began to walk toward the exit of the plaza. They got to where their respective air speeders were parked.

"I'll see you later," Akkata said as she started to walk toward her speeder.

"What." Rigot said and walked up to her.

Walked up to her and kissed her on the lips.

"Good luck."

And with that, the Jedi and Mandalorian lovers departed.

* * *

**A/N & Edit: Oh the plot thickens as Akkata spills the beans on this. What happens in the next chapter? Can Echo Squad gather more intel for this mission? Find out in the next chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N & Edit: I don't own Star Wars. Enjoy the show.**

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Chapter 3: The plan comes together

…

Dakku Voltar stroked the brown stubble on his chin, waiting for his friend/former student to show up. He got the data Rigot forwarded to him yesterday and was already formulating a plan in his office at Republic High command.

"Ah there you are."

Dakku looked up from his holotable to see the man in question and his Padawan enter the room. Like most of the Jedi Knight and Masters, like Dakku himself, serving in the war, Rigot wore newly issued clone armor with a Jedi over tunic covering the torso. Baric still wore the traditional Jedi robes and clock.

"Ah, it seems you finally showed up," the older Jedi said to his former student.

"Sorry," Rigot said in an exhausted manner as he rubbed his forehead, "Didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Is there any caf around?"

"There's fresh pot over there," Dakku said as he pointed the aforementioned pot on his desk.

"Thanks," the middle-aged man said as he grabbed a cup and filled it with the caffeinated beverage, "I take it you got data I sent you yesterday?"

"I did and I have it pulled up right here," Dakku replied as he gestured to the holotable.

On display was the hologram that Rigot saw yesterday. It seemed that the older Jedi had been staring at it for a while.

"Echo Squad sent probes to scout Hypori yesterday," Rigot said before taking a sip from his cup of caf, "I'll put what came back on display."

Rigot took out a data pad and walked over to the holotable. He then hooked the pad up to the holotable and pushed some buttons to bring up the display.

The display then changed to show the new data on the planet they planned to invade.

Some noticeable changes happened on the display. The gap in the orbiting minefield had been filled in. Behind said field was an array of three different ship groups. In each group consisted of three_ Wavecrest_-class patrol ships, two _Munificent_-class frigates, one _Recusant_-class light destroyers and one _Providence_-class destroyers. Each squadron of ships was placed in specific areas behind the minefield on the left side, right side and the center.

On the planet itself, several yellow dots appeared on the display that symbolized droid factories. Dakku figured there was at least a hundred different factories planetside.

"Hm. You'd think they would have more firepower protecting their last big factory," Baric stated as he sipped his own cup of caf.

"They must have pulled ships away for the assault on Coruscant," Dakku replied, "They do have a defensive position however. The minefield will need to be cleared."

"Do you have a solution for that?" Rigot asked.

"I do as a matter of fact," the older Jedi answered, "After you dropped of this data off yesterday and I got a look at it, I made some calls to the Open Circle Fleet and others, asking for and heavily damaged ship that I could use. Somehow, I managed to acquire five, heavily damaged _Venator_-class star destroyers. I plan to fill the hangers with sonic charges and have a crew of droids' pilot. The idea is to have the _Venators_ fly into the minefield, explode and have the sonic blasts clear them out. Once the mines are gone we fly in and smash their defenses."

As Dakku spoke, five _Venators _appeared on the holodisplay and gave a visual demonstration of said actions and a display of the 222nd's fleet, represented by a _Victory_-class star destroyer, came in and demolished the CIS fleet.

"While that's going on, Echo Squad, Baric and I will fly to the surface here," Rigot stated as he pointed to a spot not too far from one of the factories, "Once there, we'll infiltrate, sabotage, and collect the data on this Jedi killing droid."

"Collect the data?" Dakku asked.

"Apparently this data is wanted by the Chancellor's Office," Rigot explained, "I didn't get much details after that."

"Doesn't that seem tad suspicious?" Baric asked.

"It does," the Jedi knight replied, "I told Master Zey about this and he will take this to Master Yoda."

"I see, let's continue."

…

Hours later, after many details hashed out, many cups of caf consumed and many trips to the refresher taken, the plan was set in motion.

The 222nd Star Corp was set to leave for Hypori in a month. All the captains of the corp's various ships would be briefed and the troops of the multiple divisions would be mobilized.

As Rigot and Baric started to leave, Dakku called after the two.

"Rigot, could I barrow you for a moment?"

"Sure Dakku," he replied, "Baric, wait by the speeder."

Once Baric left, Dakku resumed his questions.

"Is something bothering you?"

Rigot sighed, scratched his chin for a moment before answering the question.

"I met up with Akkata last night."

"How is she doing?"

"Oh, not too bad," Rigot replied, "We had a nice stroll through Monument Plaza at midnight."

"That sounds like a good date."

Dakku was aware of Rigot's and Akkata's relationship.

"Well," Rigot continued, "Akkata is pregnant and I'm the dad."

"Oh," Rigot's former master replied rather dumbfounded, "Is that why you are troubled?"

"Precisely."

"Do you two have a plan?"

"Yes. Once Akkata is finished with her investigation, she will leave the GAR and return to Mandalore. Once the war is over or when Baric reaches knighthood, I will leave the Jedi Order and join her there."

Dakku walked over to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Then it seems like you have everything figured out."

"I know," the younger Jedi replied, "It's just so many things can go wrong."

"Try not to think of it," Dakku said, "Besides, we have a battle to win."

"Indeed, we do."

With that, Rigot took his leave and went to prepare his SpecOps detachment for war.

* * *

**A/N & Edit: Sorry everyone for the much shorter chapter. I wanted to get this done while I was still on Thanksgiving break and had a lot more free time. I won't be posting anything for a few weeks as finals week for my university is approaching and I need to focus on studying for those. For those of you who have read Star Wars Remnant: Arrival, I mentioned a poll being put up on my profile. That pole is now up and you are all free to vote on weather or not I should incorperate my DeviantArt account into this or not. Let me know on the poll.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Star Wars isn't owned by me. It belongs to Disney.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Knock, knock, shuttas.

…

An Umbaran male in a CIS commodore's uniform sat in the conference room of his _Providence_-class destroyer, _The Razer_, as it orbits Hypori. Before him were the holographic images of three figures, two wearing a CIS Navy uniform and one wearing a set of robes with armor over the top. One of the naval officers was a rather fat Sullustan male and, and the other was a Devaronian male. The robed/armored individual was a male with an average, humanoid build with a mask covering his eyes. Two lightsabers hung from his belt, signifying him as a member of Dooku's Dark Acolytes

The four of them were discussing a possible invasion on their hands. Especially when a pair of small hyperspace anomalies were detected two months ago.

"I believe we are facing an attack gentleman," the Umbaran started, "Those hyperspace anomalies a couple months ago could only mean one thing. An invasion."

"Two random anomalies don't mean an invasion will happen, Deechi," the Sullustan answered, "Besides, the last time the Republic tried to invade, we beat them badly."

"You forget, Borkus, that we were at full strength when they attacked," the Devaronian answered, "With most of our fleets gone thanks to the failed attack on Coruscant, we won't hold any fleet off for long."

"You've made your point Commodore Jondo," the Dark Acolyte said, "Let's get back to the task at hand."

With order being restored the robed man continued.

"We cannot let this planet fall," he continued, "Our whole war effort relies on it. Have all your squadrons on high alert and I will shore up our ground defenses. Give me updates on anything that happens. Dismissed," with that, the hologram of the Dark Acolyte and the other naval officers faded out and Deechi left the conference room for the bridge.

Once Deechi had reached the bridge, he put the ships in his squadron, located on the right flank of the on-alert level yellow and to assume defensive formation.

"Sir," a Human male in a deck officer uniform asked, "are we under attack?"

"No, Lieutenant," Deechi replied, "Just won't to be prepared for on. Launch a few squads of Vultures Droids for patrol detail."

"Yes sir," the Lieutenant answered.

The next hour was very quiet but Deechi was still on edge. He expected something to happen and was hoping that it would be something he could survive.

"Commodore, we are detecting objects about exiting hyperspace," a B1 manning the console of a sensor announced, "thirty seconds out."

"Order our patrols back toward the formation and com the rest of the fleet," the Commodore ordered, "I want to see what we're up against."

At twenty-five seconds, all of Deechi's Vulture Droid squads were recalled back near the rest of his navel squadron.

At fifteen seconds, the two other navel squadrons in the center and on the left flank knew what was happening and where in defensive formation and on high alert.

At ten seconds, the countdown began.

"Contact in ten," the same B1 started.

"Nine."

"Eight."

"Seven."

"Six."

"Five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

For a single moment, nothing happened as the CIS waited.

Then suddenly, five _Venator_-class star destroyers exited hyperspace in formation, strung out across the mine field and exploded.

When it did explode, all noise was canceled out before a defining bang and multiple blue waves of energy erupted from the hanger section of each ship that struck and detonated any mine caught in its path.

"Was any of our ships hit?" Deechi yelled as the pit crew and deck officers watched in awe at the destruction they just witnessed.

"We're fine sir," the Human Lieutenant from earlier answered, "Commodores Borkus and Jondo have reported in. Jondo's squadron is fine but Borkus's flagship took a hit as well as a couple frigates."

"What about the minefield?"

"Only the last screen of them made it through the blast."

"Sir," a B1 interrupted, "We have more ships incoming."

…

Just outside of the newly made debris field, the fleet of Republic war vessels hyperspaced in for the attack. The fleet on the left flank consisted of twelve _Carrick_-class frigates, eight _Acclimator II_-class assault ships, five _Dreadnaught_-class heavy cruisers, three _Venator_-class star destroyers and one _Victory_-class star destroy followed by were four _Acclimator I_-class assault ships that acted as transports.

"Attention all ships," Dakku called over the comm from the bridge of his flagship, the _Victory_-star destroyer, _The Steadfast_, "All ships form attack formation around the transports and watch for debris and enemy fighters."

All the ships complied and started to move into their positions, forming a spearhead. Leading the spearhead was the corvettes, assault ships and the heavy cruisers, creating a screen against enemy fighters, bombers and corvettes.

Following these ships was both variants of star destroyers present. The _Venators _acted as fighter and bomber carriers while the _Victory _was to take care of any frigates that made it past the head of the spear.

"Fleet in position, General," asked Verne Celchu, a Human that captained _The Steadfast_, "Awaiting you orders."

"Prepare to move on their left flank," was the answer, "Hold our bombers in reserve till our corvettes and fighters engage theirs."

With the confirmation from Captain Celchu and the rest of the fleet officers, the 222nd Star Corp got to work.

…

Once the initial shock had worn off, the CIS fleets scrambled meet the incoming Republic forces. Commodore Deechi and what was left of Borkus's squadron moved to reinforce Commodore Jondo's position. Though Deechi doubted that any of this battle was winnable. Each CIS squadron had a single _Providence_-class destroyer, a single _Resurgent_-class destroyer, four _Munificent_-class frigates, five _Wavecrest_-frigates and a wing of starfighter and star bomber for support.

The Republic, on the other hand, came at them with a spearhead of _Carricks_, _Acclimator IIs_, and _Dreadnoughts_ with a _Victory _and a few _Venators_ behind them. The spearhead created a screen against fighters, bombers and light frigates while the _Victory _could take anything bigger than a _Munificent_ and the _Venators _would deploy their bombers in safety before setting them on the larger ships in the in CIS fleet.

…

As ARC-170s and NTB-630s launched from the _Venators_, no one in the Republic battle group, much less the CIS, took notice of a single YT-1250 slip out of one of them. It didn't fly into the fray like the rest of the snub fighters and star bombers but instead, flew around the pack to watch for something.

Once the fighters had engaged the enemy and the bombers started smashing the frigates, the freighter jumped to action. It made a run for a crippled _Munificent _caught Hypori's gravity well. Once it reached the falling frigate, the YT-series ship attached itself to the underside of the frontal shell of the infamous frigate as it plummeted toward the surface.

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**A/N: I'm back people and I've got another chapter as a belated Christmas present for you all. If you have questions or comments, feel free to do so please. Have a good day everyone.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't own Star Wars. **

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Chapter 5: Echos in the Dark

"Everyone knows the plan?" Rigot asked the commandos in the hold of the freighter as it plummeted with the hulk of a dead ship.

It was a rhetorical question to begin with they had a month to prepare. A couple months to make dry runs on what they would be up against.

Their task was simple.

Once on the ground, they would proceed to a flak cannon emplacement near one of the minor droid factories. Once there, the Echo Squad and the two Jedi would split up to plant explosive charges all over the place. The group would then rendezvous to infiltrate the factory and acquire any information from the central mainframe and find any information on this Jedi hunting droid. Once done, they would leave the factory and blow up the flak guns to clear the way for the transports to land and establish a foothold and let the PTB-625s to start making their bombing runs on factory and bomb it to the Nine Hells of Corellian.

The commandos acknowledged over the intercom and snapped Rigot out of his musing. As he sat in the pilot's seat he turned to Baric, who sat in the co-pilot's seat, and saw him focused on the ship's sensors.

A few minutes after entering Hypori's atmosphere, the sensors started to beep. Their ride was starting to get to hot as it fell and it was time to detach.

"Detaching from the _Munificent_," Rigot stated.

The YT freighter dropped for a few seconds as Rigot fired the engines and flew in behind the falling ship. This was done to mask the ship's engine signature. There was no need to worry about the ID signature as it wasn't being broadcasting for the sensors on the ground to detect. The only thing it had to worry about was dodging the debris from the falling warship as it broke up as it fell.

A task that was easy for one connected to the Force.

About twenty minutes after entering the atmosphere, the frigate crashed on Hypori's surface and Rigot touched down in its wreckage. Once landed, the two Jedi left the cockpit and proceeded to help Echo Squad unload the speeder bikes they brought along to get from place to place.

Half an hour later, the commando team surveyed their target from the safety of the two-year-old wreckage of an _Acclimator_, taking in the details with optical enhancement equipment. The two Jedi were using electrobinoculars while the clones used the binoculars built into their helmets.

Through the thermal readings, the flak gun's positions came into view. From what they saw, it appeared that the cannons themselves were lifted from a _Providence_ and fitted for a surface-to-air weapons role. Their projectiles were too big to engage starfighters and star bombers effectively but could do some major damage to the transport ships set to land once the way was clear.

"What do you think, Gregor?" Rigot said after putting his electrobinoculars down, "What's the best way to proceed?"

Gregor climbed down to get to some actual ground to start drawing an overhead view of the enemy position in the dirt. The rest of team stood around him to get a better view of the situation. The emplacement appeared to be in a hexagon formation with each cannon occupying one of the points.

In the center was the generator that powered the weapons and halfway between this and each cannon was what looked like ammo depots for the guns. The distance from the power and the weapons meant that the ammo couldn't be used to help blow up the cannon position.

'Looks like we'll have to get creative,' Gregor thought as he surveyed the map he made.

"How many charges do we have?" he asked his squad.

"About twenty-four charges," Rex, the clone commando in charge of supplies, replied. That left about four charges for each of them. Not enough to blast the entire battery to the atmosphere.

"It seems we lack enough ordinance for the mission?" Fives, one of the clone commandos, grumbled in disappointment.

"Not entirely," Rigot stated, "All we need to is blow the main power generator and the flak cannons will be inoperable."

"How big is the generator?" Baric asked.

"Big enough that twenty-four charges should do the trick," Rigot replied as he glanced at the sun in Hypori's sky. Judging by the star's position, he guessed that it was the middle of the afternoon. They had about six standard hours before sunset and nighttime would mask their movements.

"We'll wait till its dark out before we move," the Jedi knight stated as he crouched down in front of the map, "When we move out, we split in to two-man teams,"

Splitting clone commando squads up to single members was something SpecOps learned was a bad idea when spread out over large distances.

A lesson they learned after the infamous, "Prosecutor Incident".

"Rex and I will move in from the north," Rigot continued as he drew an arrow with his finger from the area marked, "factory".

"Baric and Gregor will move in from the southwest," another arrow drawn.

"Fives and Boost will move from the southeast," a final arrow finished the mapping draft.

"The teams will move into position and rendezvous at the power generator, plant our charges exfil and make move to infiltrate the factory. Sync chronometers for 1800 hours, that's when the operation begins."

Everyone presents looked down at his chronometer and held a hand to set an alarm.

"Sync on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark.

Rigot and Rex made it to the power generator without any hassle. They dodged droid patrols and avoided any areas with large concentrations of troops. This group, along with Fives and Boost, made it to the RV point on time.

Baric and Gregor made it a bit later than everyone else. Apparently the two of them had to make a detour around several different patrols and nearly got into an unwanted firefight. Thankfully, they kept a low profile and stayed out of trouble.

After the three teams rendezvoused, they got to work planting the charges on the generator and did so the charges wouldn't be noticed by any of the facilities guards. Once completed, the commandos promptly exfiled.

Now for the main mission, the factory.

About an hour of walking in the dark latter and the team was at the factory. They had a minor scuffle with a small patrol on the way there but luckily, they scrambled their signals to mask their presence. Now they stood one click away from the perimeter of the target, a factory styled very similar to a Geonosian Hive except it was made out of metal instead of desert rock.

Between the team and the target was ravine that was meters deep and would have to be repelled down.

"All right," Rigot said after observing the bottom of the ravine with binocs, "Time to repel downwards."

Gregor turned to his squad and ordered, "Boost, Rex. You two take point and secure a landing area."

The two commandos walked to the edge of the ravine, grabbed their grapple cables from their belts. After hooking up the cables to the edge of the cliff face, the duo repelled downward into the darkness of the crevasse.

The all clear was given five minutes later and the rest of the team followed.

"Alright," Rigot said once he was at the bottom of the canyon, "Check the thermal scans for an opening."

The commandos did just that. After scanning for twenty minutes, they found what they were looking for.

"There's some sort of vent six clicks to the east," Fives stated, pointing in the said direction.

"Then I guess we've found our entry point," Gregor acknowledged.

"Let's move out."

Hours later, after a checking a standard console for a factory layout, the team finally made it to the central console. The console was located on a long walkway overlooking a section of the factory's assembly line. Not far from the console itself was few metal pipes and other pieces of debris. The room itself had a high ceiling that stretched upwards for about ten meters.

"Echos, take up defensive positions around leading up to the console," Rigot stated, "Once we start slicing, the alarms will go off and every droid will be on top off us."

"What about you, General?" Gregor asked.

"I'm going to cover Baric's back while he slices," Rigot answered, "Use any means to stop the droids. We'll probably need a few minutes to data mine."

"Yes sir," the Captain said before motioning for his squad to move out.

"Don't start slicing until Echo Squad in position," Rigot told his padawan, who was getting ready to hack the console.

Gregor crouched behind a fallen pipe a few meters away from the Jedi at the console with a small box of grenades beside. Boost was behind another fallen pipe a meter in front of him to his left, also with a box of grenades beside him.

On the wall next to Gregor's right, Rex hung from a cable four-and-a-half meters in the air with his DC-17 in sniper mode trained toward the doors to the room the team had set up shop in. Fives also had a similar setup to Rex, dangling from a cable in the air, the only difference was it on the opposite wall to him and had the grenade launcher attachment for his DC equipped.

Both commandos in the air had all the ammunition for their respective DC attachments that the squad possessed.

With everyone in position, Gregor signaled the Jedi everyone was ready to start the data grab.

Meanwhile at the console, Baric produced a thirty-centimeter-long cylinder with an entry port for computer terminals.

To most people, this looked like a normal security tunneler, designed to slice systems that needed something like an astromech droid to pull off. While it performed just that, it also transmitted data to a connected devise, like the datapad that Rigot had on his belt.

No sooner had Baric put the spike into the port and got it to start working it stuff had it set the alarms off.

In all reality, the device was designed like this. It pretty much just strong-armed its way it a system by throwing password after password until something worked.

Meanwhile, alarm klaxons blared. At least the commando had time to prepare for the garrison of droids that would eventually descend on them.

For the next few minutes, the Clones and Jedi waited with baited breath and sweaty brows, anticipating the welcoming committee to show up.

As if on cue, the door to the room opened to reveal a security team enter the room. This team was just a squad of B1s, which was twelve droids plus a leader. All of the had the red markings of a security team.

The enemy started to walk toward the team in parade formation, four droids a line and three ranks deep.

With a _snap-hiss _and a _virrr_, Rigot activated his lightsaber, bathing his face in a sapphire blue light.

"Weapons free," Gregor shouted as he lobbed a fragmentation grenade at the droids while the droid squad leader blurted out orders to open fire.

The first rank of droids let loose a hail of blaster fire before Gregor's grenade went off and knocked out all but one droid on the team's far left and one droid on the second rank in the center-right.

Droids kept returning fire, even as Rex managed to get a pod shot and take out the squad leader, as Boost and Gregor took out the last droid in the first rank and a couple in the second rank, and as Rigot deflected blaster bolts back at the droids in the third rank. Fives didn't fire a shot from his DC in the firefight but did use his sidearm to take out a few clankers.

"How much longer?" Rigot asked Baric once the engagement had ended.

"I'm in the network," the padawan replied, "Just need to find the file on this 'Jedi Killer' project. Aha, found it. Starting downloading now."

With the part that needed his direct attention done, Baric joined his mentor and activated his lightsaber and let the emerald green light shine with the older Jedi's blue.

They waited for about half an hour for the download to finish. Doing this time, they held off three more waves of droids. Each wave had more droids in it than the last one. This meant that dealing with these droids would take a lot longer than they wanted.

"Download complete," Rigot said after looking at his data pad. They got a pause after each wave of droids. Time Rigot used to check their progress.

"Alright everyone," Gregor barked, "We are leaving."

After everyone gathered around the console, the team hopped down onto the assembly line below and found toward a series of vents they picked up earlier from the factory layout. Once they found the vent access, the team climbed through and made their way to the perimeter.

Only a few squads of B1s and B2s remained on guard, any that crossed their paths were easy to deal with, (B1s more so than B2s), and made it beyond the foundry's sensors. Once there, Rigot activated the charges on the flak cannon's power generator.

Hours later, Rigot, Baric and Gregor stood with Dakku around a holotable in the ruins of the factory they raided earlier with Echo Squad, the rest of the squad was off getting some rest after the thirty-six-hour long mission. Also present was the Clone marshal commander, Nemon, as well as Tex, Rourke, Tanner and Hotspur, the senior commanders of each legion. The commanders all wore Phase-II clone armor but rather than it being white, it was marked with the green stripes with black outline of the 222nd Star Corp.

The nine of them poured over the data that the commandos brought back and proved to be very useful. Orders for droids and equipment were present as well as troop deployments across the planet and in other star systems.

The main thing they were looking for was in formation on the new droid model they were sent to stop production on. They didn't find schematics but they did find out who was manufacturing the droid.

"It appears this droid is a Holowan creation by the looks of it," Nemon stated, "According to the map, they have a factory here." The clone finished after pulling up a map of Hypori and pointed at a factory northeast from their current position in the equatorial zone.

"It also has who is in charge of the project and each factory here," Hotspur stated as he pulled up the list of names of factory heads here on planet as well as people involved with the new droid project.

One name sent a subtle bolt of shock through Dakku as he saw the name. He kept this to himself as he and his colleagues worked on strategic plans for the campaign. But the name still rang in his mind. A name that he hadn't seen for a long time and a person he didn't thing would be part of the CIS, let alone a part of this project.

'Prosset Dibs.'

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**A/N: The plot thickens as the Battle of Hypori starts. What is Dakku's history with Prosset? What do the Jedi Killer droids look like? All will be answered in the following chapters. I might be on a little bit of a hiatus for a bit as spring semester at my university is about to start and my time will be limited. If you like the story, feel free to leave a review or follow if you want. **


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